Considering how close Oklahoma came to playing that January night — and perhaps to winning the College Football Playoff, too — don’t mistake, though, a coach’s queasiness for more than momentary disgust. To hear Riley tell it, he was already onto the next thing.

“It took a day or two to get past (a loss to Georgia in the Rose Bowl), then the focus went into recruiting,” Riley says. “You’ve got to move on.”

It’s the way of college football, of course. The cycle never ends. And it could have been something Riley ate, sure. Or it might have been the unsettling adjustment to Life After Baker Mayfield — the uneasy recognition that the Sooners were moving forward, yes, but without one of the most impactful catalysts in college football history.

More than three months later, as Oklahoma wrapped up spring practice this week (with one practice after last Saturday’s spring game), its head coach projected an air of confidence backed by evidence. Oklahoma returns a talented roster filled with plenty of playmakers; both Kyler Murray and Austin Kendall, who are competing at quarterback, have shown plenty of promise.

There’s clear momentum in recruiting, including a consensus Top 10 class of signees, with several already enrolled. And that’s before the events of the last few days surrounding Oklahoma’s spring game, when the Sooners secured verbal commitments from several top recruits and shot from No. 18 in 247Sports’ composite recruiting rankings to No. 1.

In an admittedly highly fluid (and always unscientific) endeavor, that’s at least a very nice snapshot of how things are going. Oklahoma’s future seems more than OK.

But let’s not kid ourselves. The Sooners have to replace a Heisman Trophy winner who accounted for 12,292 yards and 119 touchdowns in three seasons while completing almost 70% of his passes, who’s now projected as a top pick in the NFL draft. But that’s only part of his impact.

Bob Stoops’ hiring of Riley as offensive coordinator after the 2014 season helped change the course of the program. After a slight dip, Riley’s ability (and his energy, too) helped Oklahoma surge back to elite status, and Riley’s demonstrated ability in only a couple of seasons was the reason Oklahoma officials felt secure, when Stoops unexpectedly retired last June in handing the program to a 33-year-old.

But the unexpected transfer of a walk-on quarterback a year earlier might have been as important to the Sooners’ success. Oklahoma was 34-6 in Mayfield’s three seasons, with three consecutive Big 12 championships and two Playoff appearances.

At the very least, the pairing of Mayfield and Riley was a match made in offensive heaven. But now Mayfield prepares for the NFL Draft. And as Oklahoma moves on, preparing for life without him, we’ll learn even more about Riley.

Baker Mayfield leaves the field after Oklahoma’s loss.

We already know plenty; Riley didn’t look much like a rookie head coach as he led Oklahoma to another conference title and into the Playoff. And know this, too:

For now, at least, the new normal feels pretty good. Riley’s ascension to head coach came at an odd time; even though he claimed last summer he didn’t see much need to change things, there wasn’t a good time to do it, even if he had wanted to. Since the 2017 season ended, there have been a few tweaks, though mostly things outsiders wouldn’t notice.

The staff, which Riley inherited from Stoops, remained largely the same, except for taking advantage of the NCAA’s newly created 10th assistant position by adding Shane Beamer from Georgia, which signaled in part Riley’s desire to shore up special-teams issues. To replace longtime strength coach Jerry Schmidt, who left for Texas A&M, Riley hired Bennie Wylie, who he’d known going back to his days as a student at Texas Tech.

Riley also hired longtime defensive coach Bob Diaco as an analyst in what’s described as a big-picture role, in hopes of helping solve some of the Sooners’ defensive deficits. (“Another set of eyes and ideas,” says Mike Stoops, adding: “He just throws things at you that make you think.”)

The defensive issues weren’t so much schematic, though, as talent, especially up front. Oklahoma’s recent success was fueled by the offense. To sustain status as a Playoff contender — or to take the next step — the Sooners have to get better on defense, which is why another of Riley’s changes is especially vital; he revamped Oklahoma’s recruiting, adding staff members and shuffling existing responsibilities, with very promising early results.

But in the same way that this offseason has represented the first real look at what Riley might do with the program, it feels in some ways like Riley’s coaching career is only beginning to take shape now, after Mayfield’s departure.

“Not discounting him, he was a prominent player at a prominent position,” Riley says. “But we’re used to losing great players. … It’s just part of it in college football.”

It’s what a coach has to say, and he’s right to note that going into last season, the questions were how Oklahoma would replace Biletnikoff winner Dede Westbrook and running backs Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine — and the offense got better. Players moving on is part of college football’s cycle.

But Mayfield was different.

“He’s a generational player,” Mike Stoops says, likening Mayfield to Tim Tebow — and yeah, we know, but Stoops is referring their playmaking on the field and their charismatic leadership in the locker room. For Mayfield, that combination created a force that sometimes willed the Sooners to victories.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone quite like him, to be honest with you,” Stoops says. “I don’t know if we’ll see another like him.”

Which is why it’s hard to predict what we’ll see next from Oklahoma.

Offensively, the Sooners return three starting offensive linemen, their top two running backs and several dangerous receivers, which should provide comfort for either quarterback in a competition Riley calls “neck and neck.”

“I like the fact that we’ve got more weapons around them, you know?” Riley says. “We’re better around them than we’ve been.”

Murray, a junior who was Mayfield’s backup last season after transferring from Texas A&M, is considered by most to be the heir apparent. But he’s been pushed significantly this spring by Kendall, a third-year sophomore who backed up Mayfield in 2016 as a freshman, then redshirted last season. Riley says he doesn’t expect to name a starter until sometime during preseason practices.

Quarterback Austin Kendall during the Oklahoma spring game.

The competition might be complicated, too, by baseball. Riley praises Murray’s juggling of both sports this spring and says it didn’t create any significant issues. But if playing center field didn’t hamper his development at quarterback during spring practices, it might factor into the competition going forward.

Showing off power to go with speed in the field and on the basepaths, Murray is projected as a potential first-round pick in the Major League Baseball Draft. Riley says he and Murray have spoken frankly about the issue, and sounds unconcerned.

He’s as fast as any Sooner; a year ago, he ran a hand-timed 4.38-second 40-yard dash, and you only needed to see one play to know it translates to game speed, too. Last season, Murray started against Oklahoma in place of Mayfield, who was being disciplined for obscene gestures and yelling profanity the week before at Kansas. He took the first snap and raced 66 yards, setting up a touchdown. It was the longest run by an Oklahoma quarterback in 20 years, and it was a tantalizing look at what could be.

But Kendall, a more prototypical pocket-passer, came on during spring practices, outplaying Murray during the Sooners’ spring game and setting the stage for continued competition into the summer. It’s not fair to categorize Kendall as a passer and Murray as a runner — Kendall can move, and Murray can pass — but what Oklahoma’s offense looks like next season likely depends on which quarterback wins the job.

“You might say their strengths are a little bit different, but they both can do the other, too,” Riley says. “In the end, it’s the guy we think gives us the best chance to win, that’s the most consistent and productive, and then we’ll tailor it to that.”